Success in business is a love game

With the Australian Open in its last week of competition, some would be surprised at the many similarities between tennis and running a business.

The first is universal and applies to just about every pursuit. The amount of effort you put into something, and enjoyment you get from it, has a direct effect on your success.

When a tennis player stops enjoying the game, and starts treating it as a job, their performance suffers. The same applies to business owners. As soon as they stop enjoying what they are doing, and regard it as a job, then that is the time to consider either selling or closing down the business.

If you're like me you, will have had numerous experiences of walking into a business where you know the owners are tired and no longer enjoy what they're doing. Often it comes across in the way they deal with customers or in the way the business looks. The longer they stay in the business the more it suffers to the point where it can never be sold, and in some cases can become a financial burden.

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When someone starts playing tennis, after finding out that they have the necessary skills and physical attributes to play the game, they need to work out at what level they want to play the game. They could decide to become a social player, play a high grade of competition tennis, or set their sights on making tennis their career. Once this decision has been made the training and other steps to achieve what they want can start.

The same applies to anyone starting a business. The sooner an owner works out what sort of lifestyle they want their business to provide them, the sooner they can start working on the business. This includes working out the turnover the business must be to achieve the profit required, which decides how big the business must grow.

Anyone watching the tennis will have noticed that every tennis player has a group of people supporting them. Often the higher the ranking a professional player has, the more people they have helping them. These can include tennis coaches, fitness coaches, dietitians, and even success coaches to help keep them at the top of their mental game.

A business owner serious about achieving maximum success realises they can't do it by themselves. In addition to having well trained and motivated employees, they also need assistance and guidance from accountants, marketers, business coaches and others within their industry.

One of the main things that separates social tennis players from those who play at a higher level is the amount of measuring they do. The social player will often content themselves with the score alone. Professionals measure all facets of their game and look for ways to improve them.

The more an owner measures the different factors that contribute to the success or failure of their business - rather than just looking at how much profit they make at the end of each year - the greater the chance that the business will improve and ensure it grows to the size and profitability that the owner wants.

Questions on small business tax or other issues can be emailed to business@taxbiz.com.au.